DP2549 Household Portfolios in Italy

Author(s): Luigi Guiso , Tullio Jappelli

Publication Date: September 2000

Keyword(s): Portfolio Choice , Diversification , Portfolio Mobility , Information

JEL(s): D80 , E20 , G10

Programme Areas: International Macroeconomics

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP2549.asp

We provide a detailed account of the portfolio of Italian households and its evolution, using repeated cross-sectional and panel data drawn from the 1989-95 Bank of Italy Survey of Household Income and Wealth. We offer an in-depth description of the lifetime pattern of asset holdings and their composition, the degree of asset diversification, and the propensity to invest in risky assets. The data also allow us to address some more fundamental issues on the determinants of household portfolios. We look at portfolio mobility and elaborate on the relevance of entry and exit costs. We also provide new evidence on the effect of income risk and information acquisition on portfolio choice.